


The One With Soulmate Lines

by thestanceyg



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Soulmate lines, Soultember, but not a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 07:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15925343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestanceyg/pseuds/thestanceyg
Summary: For the first time in his life, Spencer Reid is positive he's in the same city as his soulmate. Too bad he's there on a case.





	The One With Soulmate Lines

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to the every awesome Dresupi for beta-ing this story and saying lovely things to me. I love you!

The line was purple and almost sparkly. Spencer considered it. Of course he had been seeing it most of his life, but whenever he needed to clear his mind, he would meditate on the line. He imagined the type of person that would have such a line.  _ Fun. Outgoing. Social _ .Those were the words that always immediately came to mind. Lately, though, he’d been considering  _ Masks pain with flashiness. Sometimes considered the “weird one.” _ He wanted desperately to meet them, but, as always, the line stretched out past the horizon.

“Well?” Rossi asked him.

“I need to redraw the map,” Spencer said, pulling himself out of his chair. “I think that with the new information that I can narrow the zone some more and maybe find something new we haven’t considered.”

Rossi nodded and wandered off to get a new map for him. Spencer looked at his line again. It shifted ever so subtly, and he wondered if his soulmate was traveling.

* * *

Darcy paused for a moment, looking behind her. She knew she wasn’t being subtle, but that was partially the point. She was fairly certain she was being followed. But she wasn’t supposed to know how to check in the reflections of windows or listen carefully to steps. So she made a show of looking behind her, even though she wouldn’t see anything. When she and Jane had returned from Norway, they had immediately enrolled in self defense classes. They might be tiny, but they also weren’t going to get shoved off to nowhere again without a fight. And then after London they had taken advantage of SHIELD feeling guilty for not answering their distress calls and pushed their way into basic defense and surveillance classes they had no business being in, but still diligently applied themselves to anyway.

She had to admit she was surprised to be using those skills in Flagstaff, Arizona, but there it was. There were terrible people everywhere. Luckily she was close to the apartment she and Jane were sharing just a few miles from the Lowell Observatory where Jane was doing some readings and was giving a series of lectures. The door to the apartment flung open up the block, and Jane popped her head out. “Did you get it?!” she called. Darcy held up the bag containing the snacks. Unlikely that anyone would try to nab her now. Not in broad daylight with Jane doing a little dance on the stoop.

Her line jumped, catching her attention. It seemed to do that a lot. Her soulmate must travel extensively. It was a soft ivory color with little black flecks, and she always thought of fine stationery and ink when she looked at it. She thought that they were maybe a travel writer or an entertainer of some sort initially, but lately she had started to wonder if they were something more like the agents that followed her and Jane everywhere. Her line vibrated softly, and she thought of cello strings. Jane darted back inside, yelling something about margaritas, and Darcy stopped looking at her line, instead following Jane inside, ready to celebrate a successful lecture.

* * *

For the first time in his life, Spencer’s line was getting bolder, a sure sign that he was getting closer to them. He tried to focus on what Hotch was saying, but it was hard when his line was more vibrant than ever. He wondered if they were going to fly over the location of his soulmate, but as the plane descended into the tiny airport in Flagstaff, he realized that it was likely they were somewhere in the mountain town. He looked over at JJ, who was studying him. He gave a soft nod of his head. He didn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone, but JJ was safe. He’d tell her later when they could talk alone.

When they could talk alone turned out to be three hours later when he joined her to speak with the family of a missing woman. The police had already interviewed her, but they were hoping to get some new details from looking at where she lived.

“So what’s going on?” JJ asked as soon as they were in the car. “You’ve been preoccupied.”

“Has everyone noticed?” he asked. He wasn’t stalling, persay. He really was curious if he’d have to explain it to everyone.

JJ shook her head. “I don’t think so. Maybe Rossi, but only because he went to the ME with you.”

Spencer stared at the road ahead of them where his line stretched out before him. “I think my soulmate is in this town.”

JJ, to her credit, didn’t give him the sharp look he knew she wanted to, keeping her eyes on the road. But her hands tightened on the wheel. “Are you sure?” she asked in that way that only a best friend could get away with without seeming patronizing.

He took a breath and thought rationally again before responding. “The line is bolder and brighter than ever before,” he said, laying out the case. “It also jumps a lot more, which would make sense if they were close by.”

“Are you going to be able to focus on the case?” she asked softly, no judgement.

“I am,” he said, “but only if I know I’ll be able to follow it once we’re done.”

JJ nodded. “I’ll make sure of it,” she said, like it was that simple. In some ways it was. There were, of course, procedures in place for such occurrences, but she was saying more than that. She was saying she would help him until he could trace the line; that she would go with him when it was time to follow it.

He was suddenly very nervous.

“What if…” he started to say.

“What if what?” JJ asked when he didn’t continue.

“What if I’m not what they’re expecting? What if they don’t want to relocate? What if-”

“Stop,” she said, cutting off his ramble. “Don’t think about any of that. It will work because that’s how this goes. Look at Will and I,” she said, reminding him that something very similar had happened to her. “Different towns with our own jobs and lives. But it still worked out in the end. I won’t say it’s easy, but it will be worth it.” Spencer nodded. Okay. He could do this. But first they needed to solve the case.

* * *

“Holy shirtballs,” Darcy said to no one in particular.

“You’ve been watching too much of _The_ _Good Place_ ,” Jane said from across the room. “That wasn’t a proper cuss at all.”

“There’s no such thing as too much of _The_ _Good Place_ , Jane,” Darcy countered, “but also this wasn’t a bad cursing sort of moment anyway. It’s an excited or confused sort of cursing.”

Jane looked up from the station where she was checking the live readings that were coming in, checking they had positioned the telescope in the best possible spot. “Give me two minutes,” she said, walking over to the tech running the telescope and making a quarter degree adjustment before checking the readings one more time and then coming over to Darcy. “All right,” she said, pulling Darcy out of the room and down the hall to the vending machine. “Good cursing?”

Darcy pulled change out of her pocket and handed it to Jane who started making selections while she waited for Darcy to explain. “I think...I think my soulmate is close,” she said.

Jane’s hand paused momentarily before completing the transaction. “Tell me everything,” she said in her science voice.

Jane’s own line had shimmered like a rainbow, which made a lot more sense when they saw the Bifrost. Her own experiences were unlike anyone else’s that Darcy had met, but she knew that Jane would be able to analyze everything and tell her if she was crazy.

“It’s like my line is in sharper focus,” Darcy said, trying to explain. “You know how I said it looked like really nice paper with ink blots? Well those blots now look like letters, the printed kind, not handwriting,” she said. “And it keeps jumping. Like, it used to sort of vibrate and bounce small bits, but now it’s all over the place.”

Jane pulled the Swiss Rolls out of the vending machine and opened them. “If the person is closer, smaller movements would make a bigger impact,” she agreed, handing a roll over to Darcy. “Where’s the line going right now?”

“South, southwest,” she said. It had taken forever, but Jane had finally taught her how to navigate with cardinal directions.

Jane nodded and chewed. “Am I a bad friend if I want to finish reading tonight before we chase your line?”

“No,” Darcy said, thinking about how Jane’s line went into the sky. “But if it seems like they’re moving away from town I reserve the right to drag you away to chase them.”

“Fair.” Jane started walking back toward the control room. “Let’s go check the progress and see how much longer until we can track your soulmate.”

Darcy looked at the clock. It was just after midnight. “I’m pretty sure they’re sleeping anyway. Most normal people would be.”

Jane smiled as they looked over the data streaming in.

* * *

When they arrived at the station, they were immediately greeted by the sheriff. “I don’t know if it’s related, but last night one of my officers responded to a call. Two women were assaulted around 3 A. M., and one was abducted.”

“Where’s the woman that wasn’t abducted?” Rossi asked.

“In the hospital. She was kept for observation because she was beat up pretty badly, but should be released later today as long as nothing serious popped up.”

Hotch nodded. “Rossi, take Reid with you and speak to the woman. It might not be related. The rest of us will keep working here until we hear back from you.”

Rossi went to the coffee pot, filling his travel mug before pouring some coffee for Spencer. “If she was assaulted just four hours ago, she might be asleep when we get there, especially since she had to give a statement and be checked over. This coffee is going to be better than whatever they have over there.” Spencer nodded and dumped sugar into his mug, giving it a quick stir before screwing the lid on.

The drive to the hospital was quick, but it took a bit before they figured out where they needed to go to find their victim. The hospital was part of a campus style medical complex, and they had gone to the wrong place twice before they got it right. As they made their way to the proper door, Rossi looked sideways as Spencer.

“So, when do you plan on telling everyone what’s going on with you? You’ve been distracted the last twenty-four hours.”

Spencer sighed. “Has everyone noticed?”

Rossi nodded. “I think just JJ and me. But it won’t be long before everyone else does.”

Spencer waited while Rossi asked for directions to the room number the sheriff had given them, considering his reply as they made their way to the elevator. “My soulmate line,” he said as the elevator door shut. “They’re here somewhere. In this town.”

“I thought maybe that was it,” Rossi said. When he saw Spencer’s surprised look, he added, “I’ve been around a while, you know. You start to recognize this sort of thing.”

“I told JJ,” he said. “I’m going to find them once the case is over.”

Rossi clapped a hand on his shoulder as the elevator doors opened back up. “I’m here to help if you need it.”

“Thanks,” Spencer said, meaning it. He liked Rossi a lot, and it meant something to him that the man would be willing to help him like this. “For now I’m just trying to focus on the case, though.”

Rossi nodded as they walked into the room. Lying in the bed was a petite woman whose face was bruised. Though it was clear the swelling had gone down, one of her eyes was still fairly puffy. There were marks on her arms and neck as well. And that was just what they could see. Spencer thought back to the images they had seen of the dead women. This level and type of violence was on par with what had happened to them. There was no doubt in his mind this was related.

“Miss Foster?” Rossi asked, looking at his small notebook.

“Dr.” she said. “It’s Dr. Foster.”

“Wait,” Spencer said, looking at her face more carefully. “Dr. Jane Foster? Of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory?”

“That’s me,” she said. “And you are?”

“Oh! Sorry!” Spencer said.

“I’m SSA Rossi, and this is Dr. Reid. We’re with the FBI.”

“Credentials,” she demanded, holding out her hand.They each placed them in her hand and waited while she carefully examined each. Spencer wondered how well she could see with the swelling around her right eye.She handed them back and relaxed a bit. “Sorry. I’m just a bit paranoid about people who might only be pretending.” She paused for a moment, her eyes tearing up a bit. “Of course, Darcy would be able to tell if they were fakes much better than I could. She did really well in that part of the class.”

“Class?” Spencer asked at the same time Dave said, “You mean Miss Lewis?”

Jane nodded. “You might want to take a seat,” she said, motioning to the chairs at the side of the room. “This might take a while to explain.”

Spencer looked to Dave who simply shrugged and moved to sit. “Go on,” he said once they were seated.

“Darcy Lewis is my assistant,” Jane started. “She’s been with me since New Mexico. Back then, everyone thought I was a crackpot. She was my intern, and while she didn’t know any of the science, she was really good at assisting me. She also was good at making me explain things in ways that made me spot errors. Anyway, she stuck with me through all the craziness my career has brought about. We took some basic self defense classes after the Battle of New York, and then we took some advanced stuff offered by SHIELD after the Dark Elves incident in London. She was really good at spotting fake credentials, and, oddly, at withstanding basic torture.” She looked up from the blanket she had been picking at and must have noticed their shocked faces. “We signed up for it. We didn’t have to do anything in the class we didn’t want to since we weren’t agents, but, well, we were sick of not being able to take care of ourselves when the world seemed like it wanted to beat us down.”

“Tell us what happened last night,” Rossi said gently.

Jane nodded, then looked back at the blanket. “We had just finished up at the observatory,” she said. “We went home and decided that we were still a little too awake to go to sleep. On observatory nights we usually don’t go to sleep until around sixish. So we decided to walk down to the corner gas station to get some coffee. I don’t know what it is, but they always have this oddly delicious coffee there. Anyway, we didn’t make it there.” She looked up at them, like it was important she see their faces as she told the next part. “We were about a block away when I felt something hit me in the back of the head. I stumbled forward, and when I turned around, Darcy was full on fighting with our attacker. He was much bigger than us, and he sucker punched her, causing her to double over. He hit her on the back of the head and she just crumpled.” Jane was starting to cry, but pressed on. “So I went after him.I was full of fury. I wanted to hurt him, and I channeled that into kicks and punches, but he was better trained than me. I know I should have run, but I couldn’t leave Darcy there. He grabbed me by the neck and squeezed until I passed out. I’m guessing he thought I was dead. When I came to, Darcy and the man were gone. I was able to make it the rest of the way to the gas station where they called the cops.”

“We’re going to need you to give us a good description of the man who attacked you. Do you think you can do that?”

Jane nodded. “It was dark, but we were near a street light. I don’t think I could forget his ugly face if I wanted to.”

“Is there anyone you need us to call?” Spencer asked. 

“No,” Jane said. “It’s just the two of us right now.”

A nurse popped into the room. “Hi Jane,” she said brightly. “The doctor just wanted me to take some vitals, and then he’ll be in shortly to do another evaluation.”

“Okay,” Jane said.

“We’ll be going then,” Rossi said, standing. He pulled out his wallet and handed Jane a card. “If you need anything or think of anything, don’t hesitate to call us.”

Jane nodded. “The officer last night took all my information, so if I’m released, you’ll know where to find me.”

The men shook her hand and then left to let the medical staff do their thing.

“This is definitely related,” Spencer said as they made their way back to the elevator. “The types of injuries Dr. Foster sustained are too similar to those of our victims, and her description of the man is also in line with what the injuries of the victims tell us about the unsub.”

Rossi nodded. “But he’s never gone after a victim that wasn’t alone. So the question is: is Miss Lewis his goal or is he spiraling?” 

Spencer considered this. Neither option was good news for Miss Lewis.

* * *

Darcy’s head was throbbing and her throat was raw both from screaming and the damage he had inflicted while choking her. Her shoulders had settled into an insistent ache from the strain of being tied behind her. She tried to look around the room, but her hair had started to fall in her eyes and she was fairly certain her right eye was swollen. She slowed her breathing and listened. She was 95% certain he was gone. She had no idea how long he would be gone, which meant acting now was her best choice. She took a deep breath and then pulled her arms as far back as her shoulders would allow before pulling them as hard as she could back toward her body and apart as if they would pull apart and skim her sides. She tried not to cry out as she failed to break the duct tape around her wrists. She gathered herself to try again. She might not have another chance.

* * *

Dr. Jane Foster’s face and neck were nasty shades of purple and green, her hair was in a haphazard braid, and her clothes were rumpled. “Dr. Foster!” Rossi said, surprised to see her just hours after they had interviewed her.

“Darcy is out there and I can’t go home until you find her,” she said, her voice determined. “There’s got to be something else I know or remember that can help.”

Rossi caught his eye and nodded him over. “Dr. Reid, could you go over Dr. Foster’s recollection of events again to see if there’s anything else we might be able to learn?”

Spencer nodded his agreement with the plan and led Jane to a small room to talk.

“I don’t want to keep you from your work, but I feel like I must have something up here still that can help,” Jane said before the door had even closed. “Plus I’m not on painkillers anymore, so I should remember the details better.” She took a look around the room. “Is there coffee or hot water or something?” she asked. “My throat’s still kind of sore.”

“I’ll be right back,” Spencer said. His heart went out to Dr. Foster. Her last three papers had special dedications to Miss Lewis for her unending dedication to helping her prove her theories, and it sounded like they were really close from the little she had said at the hospital. He came back with a mug of coffee and some creamer and sugar packets. 

Jane dumped a little of each into the mug and then took a sip. “Where do we start?” she asked.

“Why don’t you tell me about Miss Lewis?” he said. “Just, anything you want to share. Help me understand who she is. That could help us understand why he’s picking the women he is which might help us narrow down how to find him.”

“Darcy keeps me together,” Jane started. “She comes off as very cluttered, but she’s really good at organizing people and time. I get lost in my head a lot and she pulls me out of it. She’s someone that is just fun to be around, but she’s also a hard worker. She came to me without a lick of hard science background and now she can proofread my lectures and make technical corrections. She might not have the degree, but she has the knowledge.”

Spencer nodded as he listened to Dr. Foster talk. Darcy sounded like someone he would like to know; he just hoped they would find her in time for that to be possible. “Tell me a bit about her family,” he prompted.

“Her parents are divorced. She doesn’t really talk to her dad at all anymore. He’s remarried and has young kids. She tried, once, right after New York to get back in touch, but her step-mom is a bitch and said she didn’t want Darcy’s ‘bad influence’ to ‘ruin’ her kids.”

“Why would she say that?”

Dr. Foster sighed. “She thinks that Darcy’s too fanciful; doesn’t believe that all we’ve been through has really happened. She actually thinks the Dark Elves were a hoax. Her dad’s kind of a pushover.”

“Her mom?”

“Her mom’s great. She’s a Silicon Valley CEO. She started as a developer and just proved herself until she was at the top. She travels a lot. She’s the one that made Darcy think her soulmate might be a travel writer.”

“And were they?” he asked, leaning forward a bit.

“We don’t know,” Jane said, her eyes tearing up. “For the first time ever, she thought they were in the same town as us. She confided in me around midnight, and I put research first. I asked to wait until the morning to chase her line. If I hadn’t wanted to wait…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I don’t think this is your fault,” Spencer tried to calm her before his mind suddenly clicked into place what she had just told him. “Wait. She hasn’t met her soulmate, they travel extensively, and this is the first time they’ve been in the same place?”

“Yes?” Jane said, looking up at him.

“I might be wrong, but I think I know how to find her.”

* * *

Darcy stumbled out into the yard and looked around. Heading toward the street could lead her to people that could help her, but looking around revealed the closest house to be at least a mile off with next to no places to hide if she saw her captor again. To the rear of the property was the edge of the ponderosa pine forest. There would be lots of places to hide there, but if he was skilled at all in tracking, there were lots of places for her to leave a trail. But the forest could let her observe the house to determine when she could best make a run for the road. Choice made, she took off.

* * *

“I’m sorry, but can you explain that one more time?” Morgan asked.

“I think that Miss Lewis might be my soulmate based on Dr. Foster’s description of why she thought her soulmate was here. I believe mine is also in Flagstaff. The line is still there, so if I’m right, she’s still alive, and all we need to do is follow it to find her.”

Hotch pursed his lips. “But if you’re wrong we could be wasting time.”

“JJ and I can go with the kid,” Rossi said, “while the rest of the team continues to work the case here. It shouldn’t take too long to figure out if he’s right.”

Hotch gave one curt nod and they were off. The sun was just starting to set, but his line was all he was thinking about. He carefully directed Dave, correcting a few times when a slight turn turned out to push them further off course than expected. They wound their way out of the town proper and into unincorporated cattle country.

“She’s off the road, obviously,” he said as they traveled a desolate road. “Somewhere off to the left.” 

“We’ll find her,” Rossi said.

“I know,” Spender said. The line grew thicker and more vibrant. “We’re close,” he said.

“This is exactly the kind of area where our unsub would be,” JJ said, taking in the surroundings. “The houses here are isolated. No one would know what you were doing; wouldn’t be able to hear any screams.”

“If Darcy Lewis  _ is _ out here, she didn’t come here willingly,” Rossi agreed as they passed a house.

Spencer’s line jumped and was now going at a steep angle toward the forest. “We’re close,” he said. “My line is almost perpendicular to the road.” The car was quiet as Rossi slowed down and Spencer kept his eyes on the line.  “Here,” Spencer said when they were about 200 yards from the next house. The line is perpendicular here.”

“I’m going to go past it to check out the house,” Rossi said. “Then we’ll turn around and come back to it.” Spencer nodded his agreement, but couldn’t help the excited nerves that were bubbling under his skin and making him bounce his legs.

The house was dark and there was no car in the driveway, but the garage door was down, so it was difficult to tell if there was a vehicle there.

“I think we just go back to where the line was perpendicular. It doesn’t look like there’s anyone home, and we can always use the excuse of his soulmate being a hiker that got lost if anyone comes out to yell at us,” JJ said.

“Tell me when,” Rossi said, executing a three-point turn in the road to send them back the way they had come from.

Spencer took one last look at the house before watching the line again. “Now,” he said, and Dave pulled over onto the grass.

“You’ll have to lead us,” JJ said. “We’ll stick close and be ready to cover if needed.”

Spencer clicked oh his flashlight and started toward the forest.

* * *

Darcy wasn’t sure how long she had been watching the house, but it had gone from daylight to dusk with no sign of her captor. When the car had come down the street, she had felt her body tense as she prepared for it to be him, but then it had turned around and stopped. It was then she realized her line had been moving and growing bolder. She must have had a conclusion because it took her longer than it should have to realize it was connected to someone in the car. She could hear them coming through the forest now, though couldn’t see them in the rapidly declining light. She was able to pick out the flashlights coming her way and debated getting out of the tree she had pulled herself into when she had decided on the forest. She decided to wait because she might actually fall out if she tried, now that she thought about it.

The lights came closer, but her attention was drawn back to the road. Another car was coming.

“Please hurry,” she started to whisper, her voice coarse. “Please hurry. We have to get out of here. Please, please hurry.”

And while her voice filled her head, she heard a soft reply. “I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

She looked down at her line and saw a trio of faces below her. “Someone’s coming,” she said.

“We heard,” said an older man. 

“Can you get down?” asked the woman.

“I’m going to try,” Darcy said, turning toward the trunk and lowering herself to a crouch, grabbing the branch she was on and slowly working her way back toward the ground. By the last branch she was tired and her body was screaming, but she bent over once more and grabbed the branch, lowering her body until she was dangling, still two feet off the ground. It had taken a good bit of jumping to get into this tree, she suddenly remembered.

“I’ve got you,” the woman said, arms going around her things. “On three let go. One. Two. Three!”

Darcy let go and the woman lowered her to the ground.

“We’re about to have company, I think,” the older man called.

“Stay with Spencer,” the woman said, pulling out a gun. Then, finally, she saw her line connect to person.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but the tall,lean man in front of her with floppy hair and a loose tie wasn’t it. But at the same time it felt absolutely right. She reached for him and he pulled her close to him. “You’re here,” she said.

* * *

Her voice cracked over the two words. Her face was bruised and bleeding and her hair was full of debris from the forest. Her clothes were ripped and there was duct tape stuck on her wrists, but she was there. With him.

“Stay with me,” he said, pulling out his own gun and looking out toward the edge of the forest.

“Who are you?” she asked, her eyes on his gun. 

“Dr. Spencer Reid, FBI,” he said. “When Dr. Foster said you thought you were finally in the same place as your soulmate, I knew I had to follow my hunch.”

“I’m glad you did.” She was trembling a little, though he wasn’t sure if it was the crispness of the air or something else causing it. He shrugged out of his cardigan and helped her put it on. “Thank you,” she said, pulling close to him again. His arm going around her waist, needing to touch her and know she was there.

“I’m glad too,” he said as he heard the sounds of someone coming their way. “I can’t wait to get you out of here and cleaned up,” he said, wincing a bit when it wasn’t the  _ because I need to know you’re safe and okay _ that he meant it to be.

“My face doesn’t usually look like this,” she tried to joke just as Rossi yelled out, “This is the FBI. Identify yourself.” Spencer regrouped, focusing again ahead of them.

“You’re trespassing on my land,” the man bellowed, and this time he knew Darcy’s trembling was because that was a voice she had heard before.

“Soulmate Act of 1921,” Rossi called back. 

“Get the fuck off my land,” the man yelled after a beat.

“Okay,” Rossi said, looking back over his shoulder at them. “We’re done now anyway.”

Spencer was tense as they moved forward. He knew that as soon as the man saw Darcy things would get ugly. “Turn your face into me,” he said softly. “Maybe he won’t recognize you.”

Darcy did as he asked, trusting him to lead her safely out of the forest, making his chest feel full and light. As they broke out of the treeline, he got a better look at the man. He was huge and clearly still very angry. Spencer could see the moment when the man saw the tape still stuck to Darcy’s ankles and he pulled her tighter to him.

“What the fuck is going on here?” the man demanded.

“Like I said, Rossi said calmly, “Soulmate Act of 1921. Our agent followed his line to the forest.”

The man lunged toward them, but JJ tackled him from the side before he could get close, and Rossi was cuffing him before he caught his breath.

“Go back to the car and call the team,” Rossi said. “We’re going to need help to transport him.”

“Stay there with Darcy when you’re done,” JJ said. “We’ve got this under control.”

Spencer led Darcy back to the SUV, calling Hotch as soon as they were in the car and he knew that she was safe. He sat her in the back seat, and turned on the overhead dome to get a good look at her. With more light her injuries were more obvious. He carefully started pulling needles from her hair before brushing her hair from her face, his thumb coming to rest on her jaw.

She pulled his hand to her mouth and softly kissed the pad of his thumb. “Thank you for coming for me.”

“You would have gotten yourself safe. You were well hidden and were clearly watching for the best time to run. I’m glad I could be there so you didn’t have to, though.”

He looked at her, dirty and injured but looking so incredibly happy to be there with him that she was practically shining. 

“I can’t wait to get to know you, Darcy Lewis,” he said.

Her eyes searched his before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his, softly, waiting for him to respond. He cradled her face and kissed her back, tenderly, careful of her injuries. Her hands went around his neck and he was lost in her. Kissing her was like reading his favorite book; familiar and fulfilling. He never wanted to stop.

He might not have if it wasn’t for a throat clearing behind him.

“Hey there lover boy,” Morgan said with a shit eating grin. “You seemed a little preoccupied, but we’re getting ready to head back.”

He suddenly realized that not only was the team there, but also several cars from the station. His face turned red.

“If you’re ready Miss Lewis, we’d like you to take us back into the house and show us what you can about what happened there.”

Darcy’s eyes shone with mischief, and he could tell he would love seeing that look on her face in the future.

“One moment,” she said, her voice still strained. She turned to him and kissed him again, fervently, passionately, and, ultimately, quickly. “Okay” she said. “Now I’m ready. If Spencer will let me out, that is,” she said, smiling at him. He smiled at her before scooting out and then handing her out of the vehicle. “Just wait until I’m back in fighting shape,” she whispered with a wink before following Morgan toward the house.

She was perfect. He couldn’t wait.


End file.
